Loving Star Ruth Negga Scores First Vogue Cover

Ruth Negga might not be a name you knew very well before, but it's certainly a name you'll continue to hear from here on out.

"I've been working. Keeping a low profile—until bam!" she says. "Nothing slow and steady about me."

The actress, who stars in the Oscar-buzzy film Loving with Joel Edgerton, has nabbed her first Vogue cover, appearing on the January 2017 issue of the famed magazine. Shot by Mario Testino, the cover features the gorgeous Irish-Ethiopian actress in an Alexander Wang rose-covered crop top with a Rodarte ear cuff.

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Loving tells the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, the real-life interracial couple whose mission to be considered legally married became a landmark civil rights case in the Supreme Court. Negga's biracial background and upbringing has made her very passionate about her culture, and she tells Vogue that the lack of diversity in Hollywood is only just now "becoming an embarrassment" despite being "unacceptable for a long time."

That's why she's grateful for Loving. "The film is reminding us that there's a conversation that we need to be having still," she tells the publication.

Mario Testino / Vogue

But the film, which obviously features a powerful message, is directed in a more restrained, low-key way. As a result, Negga implores viewers to focus on the movie's meaning because that's where the importance lies. "It does annoy Joel and me when people say it's a quiet film," she reveals. "Because it doesn't feel very quiet to us. It feels really loud."

This "loud" film, she hopes, will be the game changer of her career.

"There's often a job that's a ‘before and after' for an actor," Negga suggests. "This is that kind of job for me."